Facts about the West Wing’s upcoming live debate episode: They will do two live episodes for East and West coast timing. Forrest Sawyer (“a real news person”) is moderating. Only two commercial breaks are planned, allowing for 10 extra minutes of show. And there reportedly will be regular characters involved, not just the presidential candidates.

One of the common baby photos you see these days is a shot of all the babies from playgroup or moms group or birthing class reunion all lined up together in rows of cuteness. Check out the panda cub version of this photo lineup from the Wolong Panda Center. Sixteen panda cubs! What a rollicking playgroup that must be.

Schroeder (from the Peanuts strip) once picked up his piano and carried it away with him. That’s when I first realized he doesn’t use a full sized piano. Of course I knew it was visually a small object, but with Beethoven emanating from it regularly I never considered it anything but the real thing. I suppose everyone else always knew what I overlooked: Schroeder plays a toy piano. In fact, Charles Schulz was inspired after he bought one for his two year old daughter. But these aren’t chintzy, rinky-dink novelties. There are sophisticated toy pianos manufactured by Schoenhut. These baby baby grands and tiny spinets produce three octaves from hammers hitting metal rods. John Cage composed a “Suite for Toy Piano” in 1948. Pianist Margaret Leng Tan has gained some reknown for her performances on the diminutive instrument, receiving accolades from none other than Schulz.

With Halloween done with, it’s time to focus our attention on the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. This year’s luxury offerings include a GPS dog collar, the Moller Skycar Prototype, your very own instant photo booth, a levitating sculpture, and a green bean casserole of “fresh green beans cloaked in made-from-scratch mushroom soup and crisped with seasoned onion straws.” It sounds strangely familiar, and yet at $65 you may be better off manufacturing your own version.

I’d never heard of Jerry Juhl, or so I thought, but when I read his obituary last week I realized that I’d probably seen and ignored his name a number of times. The Muppets were a large part of my media input as a child and Juhl was their defining writer. Lisa Henson said of Juhl: “He was — in many ways — the real voice of the Muppets and of every project from the Jim Henson Company.” Juhl was the first employee hired by Jim Henson back in 1961, soon turning from performing to writing, shaping that irreverent Muppet humor. He spent six seasons writing for “Sesame Street,” was the head writer of “The Muppet Show,” and co-wrote the various Muppet movies. And I suppose you can blame him for a cartload of bad puns (I just want to know who’s responsible for The Rhyming Song). Kenneth Plume points out that Jerry Juhl remains with us as we hand the Muppet magic down to our children.

It had to happen sooner or later: advertising on the supermarket checkout belt. Next I suppose we’ll be forced to watch commercials on the self check-out video screens since that route exposes us to fewer chances to impulse buy candy and magazines. (via MIT Advertising Lab)

The NY Times takes a look into the recruiting and training techniques of the Blue Man Group. Before you get to try spitting paint and mouthing marshmallows, you have to be between 5’10” – 6’1″ and not “overly curvaceous” (there has been one female Blue Man out of about 80). New shows are popping up all over, so if you’ve ever wanted to run away and join the circus but knew that wasn’t exactly the right fit for you… well, just know that the paint doesn’t taste that great (but the marshmallows probably do!).

Kepler’s is reopening on Saturday at 11am. They are looking for volunteers to help prep the store and run the membership table. Which, I assumed, meant they are taking on a membership business model. And indeed, the Merc confirms that they are trying out the “public TV” thing. An initial $500,000 was invested by a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as a kickstart and the Tan Group renegotiated the rent. Kepler is also closing his Belmont business office and relocating to the store itself. Square footage will remain the same size, despite rumors. The investors make up the new board of directors and plan to adjust the bookstore’s tactics to keep things afloat. The membership model is meant to encourage people not just to put in some money to help with expenses but to buy their books at Kepler’s, which, ultimately, is what really needs to happen.

Gigantic, heavy-duty Ziploc bags! Combine it with a straw and you’ve got your very own vacuum-packing system just like on those infomercials! Yes, I’m kidding, but I have sucked the air out of ziploc bags before for a pseudo-vacuum seal, a very handy trick if you’re not germ-phobic. (via not martha)

Just like a fine watch itself, there are many lovely details in this NY Times article on watchmakers. One percent of new watches are mechanical, thanks to the proliferation of quartz movements. There are five watchmaking schools in the U.S. (New Jersey, Oklahoma, Seattle, Pennsylvania and Minnesota) that have been set up by the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program. In the first six months of training students learn Micromechanics, shaping metals with precision tools. They then get to work on actual watches in the next phase of training and eventually switch from blue shop coats to white as they move on to learn the intricacies of watch assembly. “Screws can be as small as particles of dust.” Watch connoisseurs and status seekers are keeping this unique discipline alive.